It took six county sheriff's deputies to subdue a Canadensis man who resisted being handcuffed as he was being sentenced Tuesday in Monroe County Court.

ANDREW SCOTT

It took six county sheriff's deputies to subdue a Canadensis man who resisted being handcuffed as he was being sentenced Tuesday in Monroe County Court.

"There's no way I'm going to jail," said Zachary Swartz, 20, of Canadensis, backing away and struggling against deputies when they tried to handcuff him.

As Judge Jennifer Sibum left the bench for a safer position and attorneys and other court employees moved to safer distances, deputies forced Swartz to the floor, shouting orders to stop resisting, and finally subdued him.

Deputies then picked him up and carried him from the courtroom to a holding area.

Swartz had pleaded guilty to harassment in connection with an October 2013 incident in which he was accused of becoming violent toward his mother and grandmother during an argument in their Barrett Township home.

Just prior to appearing before Sibum for sentencing Tuesday, the agitated Swartz was overheard telling somebody outside of the courtroom that he was going to physically harm someone if he had to do any jail time, according to deputies.

He remained agitated while sitting in the courtroom, awaiting sentencing, to the point where others told him to be quiet.

"If our deputies hear or are notified about someone making a threat like that, we notify the court (judge and other court staff) and then we prepare in case that person does attempt to carry out that threat," county Sheriff Todd Martin said afterward. "If we can, we tell the person who was heard making that threat that we're aware of them doing so and that we're not going to tolerate any such behavior. We didn't have the opportunity to talk directly to (Swartz), but we were ready.

"Our deputies handled the situation perfectly and everyone did what they're supposed to do when something like this happens, which is rare," Martin said. "I'm told that (Swartz) completely calmed down once in the holding area and said something to the deputies like, 'I really screwed this one up, didn't I?' We can charge him with aggravated assault against the deputies for punching, kicking and biting at them, but we don't know if we will at this point."

The harassment offense on which Swartz was about to be sentenced is a citation, punishable by anywhere from a fine to 90 days in Monroe County Correctional Facility, according to state sentencing guidelines.

Swartz might only have been fined had he not admitted to Sibum that marijuana might show up in his system if the court decided to test his urine before imposing sentence. In light of this admission, when it appeared Sibum was going to impose more than just a fine, Swartz began resisting as deputies moved to handcuff him.

Following his courtroom outburst, Sibum revoked Swartz's bail and will now sentence him by video at a later date, Martin said.